


The Other Woman

by rivendellrose



Category: Babylon 5
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Gen, Kissing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-01
Updated: 2017-01-01
Packaged: 2018-09-13 18:53:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,887
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9137047
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rivendellrose/pseuds/rivendellrose
Summary: Written for LJ user fey_spirit, who asked for Babylon 5, with Elizabeth Lochley and Delenn and girlsex, and no angst or UST, and originally posted in December of 2008. I did not make it as far as girlsex because the characters weren't cooperating, but I did get them to kiss at least.Delenn wants to have a talk with Lochley. Lochley thinks she knows why.





	

Elizabeth Lochley’s quarters were spartan - nearly empty, in fact. Used as she was to the clutter of John, Susan, and the other long-term inhabitants of Babylon 5, Delenn was surprised to find a Human whose taste in decor was so simple. How odd, to find that she’d assumed they were all alike in their tastes, even though she knew her own people varied greatly in that respect. Perhaps it was their lack of castes that confused her so - early in her time working with them, she had often caught herself assuming that they all thought the same, had the same goals and ideals. After that, she’d gotten by for some time by unconsciously dividing them into worker, warrior, and religious, as with her own people. The false division had helped her to distinguish their personalities in her mind before she became accustomed to the personal varieties within their alien sameness.

Lochley, she suspected, would have been an admirable member of the warrior caste. 

The Human woman nodded sharply to Delenn as she entered the room, and gestured to a chair. Delenn accepted, as she knew it made Humans uncomfortable to sit on the floor, and moreso to sit on a chair while another rested on the floor. They disliked any gesture that smacked of hierarchy, beyond that little which was built into their military or political command structure. 

The usual politenesses, then, were to be carefully observed, particularly in an awkward situation.

“Thank you for seeing me,” Delenn began in a soft voice calculated to soothe the other woman. Oddly, it seemed to have the opposite effect - Lochley’s jaw tightened perceptibly, and she straightened her back as though bracing against a pain. “I would like to thank you for your work so far here on Babylon 5. John, I know, was hesitant to release the care of the station to anyone else, but he was relieved when Earth Alliance announced you as their choice...”

“You don’t need to do this,” Lochley interrupted suddenly. “And you don’t need to worry that I’ll make life difficult for you here. What happened between Sheridan and I is all in the past. I’m grateful that he recommended me, but that’s as far as our friendship goes, anymore, I assure you.”

Delenn blinked. “Was there something... that I _should_ have been concerned about, before we established that?”

“Well, I know if I were in your place I might...” A canny, suspicious look shadowed Lochley’s eyes. Yes, a warrior, definitely, Delenn thought - and a formidable one, at that. “If I were in your place,” Lochley began again, slowly, “I wouldn’t know what _I_ was talking about, would I? Because John, God bless him for the universe’s greatest innocent, wouldn’t have told me. You don’t know.”

A smile touched Delenn’s lips, although she noted that it was not returned by the Human woman. “I’m afraid I don’t know what it is, exactly, that I do not know.”

“And a perfect little _koan_ that is. You and him must get on well.” Lochley shook her head. “John and I we were married, Ambassador. A long time ago, when we were both very young and stupid, and not for a long period of time, I assure you. We put up with each other for about six months, and it would have been less if we hadn’t both been so tied up in our work.”

“I see.” Delenn considered the woman in front of her - tall and strong, proud cheekbones, eyes that captured every detail of events and people around her. A stern set to her jaw. Hands folded neatly in front of her, still and composed, but radiating tension and potential power like a bowstring drawn taut. “Yes, I see,” she repeated, more truthfully this time. She _could_ see, now, why John would have been drawn to this woman, particularly when he was himself young and untried. Much as he never admitted it even to himself, John was irresistably drawn to power, and particularly to women who knew how to wield it. 

“And you didn’t know that before.” Lochley chuckled softly, a rich, low sound. “Here I was, preparing myself to be interrogated, maybe, possibly even threatened if I so much as looked at him wrong... and you didn’t even know. And you don’t care, now that you do know, do you?”

Delenn framed her answer carefully in her mind before speaking - this was delicate territory, she realized, and too great a misstep, she suspected, could make a dangerous enemy of Elizabeth Lochley, where she hoped instead to find a friend and a very worthwhile ally. “I did not know,” she admitted slowly. “John and I have not spoken at length about our pasts. There are things in my history... moments, decisions, paths that I cannot share with him. Things that he would not understand.” She smiled tightly. “Although I am half-human now, I was once full Minbari, and that life will always be alien to John. Since I expect him to accept that, I have likewise accepted that there may be matters in his past that he does not wish to discuss with me.”

“And now?”

“Now, you have told me. When you realized that I knew nothing, if you had wished, you could easily have kept the secret. Had you chosen thus, you might have gone behind my back, if you desired - tested John’s loyalty to me, and perhaps - _perhaps_ , you might have found him willing. Temptation can be a dangerous thing. As it happens, you did not. You told me, not as a threat, nor even as a warning, but simply because, I think, you felt that anything less than the truth would be beneath you. I respect that.” Delenn paused and thought for a moment. “Yes, respect, and I believe I also envy it.”

“Why would you envy that?”

“To have no secrets? To own all my past, even to those I do not know?” Delenn shook her head. “For that, Captain Lochley, I would give a great deal.”

“Please, call me Elizabeth.”

“Elizabeth, then. And I would have you call me Delenn, when we are not on public duty.”

“If you’d like.” Lochley - _Elizabeth_ , Delenn thought, tasting the foreign word in her mind - turned her head down and smiled, chuckling softly. 

“What amuses you?”

“I was just thinking, you aren’t at all what I’d expected. John and I stayed friends after our marriage broke up, I met his next wife, Anna... you knew about her, right?” 

Delenn laughed, and nodded. “Yes. Anna, I am familiar with.”

“Well, that’s something at least. Anyway. I met her, and... she was nice, a sweet person and a good scientist, but I don’t think she and I could ever have had a conversation like this. We never were really comfortable around each other. She always acted a little competitive, like she had something to prove to me. If she was afraid John might backslide, she was a fool - he was agog over her, almost as much as he is with you, but... Maybe she didn’t see it that way. Or maybe she just didn’t like me - who knows?”

“I cannot see why she would dislike you.”

“Hmph.” Elizabeth sat back, relaxing her posture for the first time in their conversation, and smiled. “Oh, I can be a right bitch when I want to, I promise. You’ll see. I may like you as a person, Delenn, but I’ll warn you - I’m here to run the station, and I won’t let my liking you _or_ John keep me from disagreeing with you when I need to, to keep this place in shape.”

“I would expect nothing less.” 

“I think we’ll get on just fine, then. Anyway, you needn’t worry about John and I. I wouldn’t take him back for the world, though I’m happy to count him a friend, and... to be honest, I prefer women.”

Delenn nodded calmly.

“You’re... not the least bit surprised by that, are you, Ambassador?” Lochley persisted. 

“Oh, no. And please, call me Delenn.”

“Er. Right.” Lochley eyed her suspiciously. 

“Is something wrong, Elizabeth?”

“Not exactly... it’s only... well, I wouldn’t have expected you to take it so easily that the woman who was previously married to your husband prefers women, that’s all. That’s the sort of thing that usually does take a bit of comment even among Humans, so I suppose I thought that with an alien...”

“Oh, Susan has explained to me that women are often considered preferential partners for other women, among Human societies.”

“ _Has_ she, now? Well.” Lochley stifled a smirk. “I really am sorry I missed this infamous Susan, then. I assume you mean Ivanova, the same one without whom John keeps indicating that he feels totally at a loss?”

“Babylon 5 is hardly the same without her,” Delenn agreed. 

“That sounds a bit more than friendly.” Lochley raised an eyebrow. “Maybe I was wrong about you. Maybe you’re not worried about John and I, because you’ve had someone else on the side?” 

“Captain Lochley. I find that insinuation very disturbing.”

“Why? If I were in the position of having a whole new body, as I understand your situation is near to...”

“I wouldn’t say that exactly. There are certainly _differences_ , but...”

“Well, even if my body were a bit different than I’m used to, I think I’d feel the need to test out all the possible options before I settled on just one. Especially if it involved a whole different species. I mean... how do you know you’ve chosen right?”

“John and I are connected on a spiritual level,” Delenn remarked coolly. Even she had to admit (to herself alone, of course) that there was an uncomfortably prim tone to her voice at that moment that would have proven correct all the warrior castes denigrating comments about members of her own beloved religious caste. 

“I remember that feeling,” Lochley said with a smirk. “On Earth, we call that ‘hormones.’ Either that or ‘the honeymoon period.’”

“How strange. John has mentioned this ‘honeymoon’ as well, but in the context of a Human ritual wherein a newly-maried couple may remove themselves from all other responsibilities for a week or so, to... get used to each other.”

“Hmph. Well, you certainly don’t seem to have observed _that_ , have you?”

“I’m afraid we’ve been too busy.”

“John often is... But that’s none of my business anymore. What I want to know is, what about this opening of options that we’ve talked about. If the illustrious Susan says that women are the best partners for other Human women - and I agree with her, incidentally - don’t you have the tiniest desire to test out her wisdom for yourself?”

Delenn thought about this for a long moment. “Perhaps,” she said cautiously, “just one kiss?”

“Certainly.”

“Purely for the purpose of experimentation, you understand,” Delenn added.

“Of course.”

“This does not constitute any sort of disloyalty to John...”

“I wouldn’t dream of imagining such a thing, Ambassador Delenn. As far as I’m concerned, you’re only exploring... a hitherto unexplored avenue of the Human condition, necessary for your understanding of our strange, alien ways.”

“Precisely.” Delenn closed the space between them so that she stood bare inches from Lochey’s chest. “I am so glad that we understand each other, Captain Lochley.”

“Mm. So am I.”


End file.
